Part 2

Arrived last night in Limoges, France. The trip from Estremoz took me via Portalegre, Marvão, Caceres in Spain, Salamanca, Vallodolid, Burgos to Bilbão. Took about 8 hours. The road between Caceres and Salamanca is being upgraded to dual carriageway and once open should knock and hour of the route.

From Bilbao tried to get into France by off-motorway routes but the Basque towns are a menace as are the first towns in France Bayonne and Biarittz. I managed however to get through that and made my way cross country via Dax and Bergerac to Limoges.

Staying at a Balladins cheap and cheerful. Euros 28 per night with free wifi.

More in the next few days.

En route Algarve - Brittany

I have left Lagos today by car after a mad few weeks and am now heading for Christmas in France. I am heading first to Limoges and then to Brittany. Total distance will be more than 5000 km before I get back to Lagos in 2 weeks.

Why this mad dash? Simple! The absolute paucity of low cost flights from the Iberian Peninsula to regional airports in France. By the time I took a train to Lisbon, got Easyjet to Paris and then train to my two destinations, its going to be cheaper driving.

I am using a diesel vehicle and am going to avoid toll roads.

Leaving Lagos this afternoon, I took the A22 Via de Infante to Albufeira, the old IP1 to Alcacer do Sal, then the cross country road road to Montemar de Novo and then the N4 to Estrmoz. Left Lagos at circa 13:45. Arrived Estremoz 18:10, having stopped at Mimosa for lunch. Total distance about 350km. Drive Time. (No Motorway) - 4 hrs.

Have found a free Internet Cafe offered by the Council and open from 14:00 to 20:00 7 days a week. No wifi but machines seem fine. Staying at the Pensão Café Alentejano Estremoz for Euro 25 night for one person. Clean rooms with shower toilet on suite. No website but can be called on +351 268 337 300.

Hotels in Lisbon

I would recommend the following hotels if available:

Ibis Barata Salgueiro -
http://www.ibishotel.com/ibis/fichehotel/gb/ibi/3137/fiche_hotel.shtml
This is just of Avenida Liberdade and half way between the Baixa and Marques de Pombal.

You may find however from the time of year that hotels in the centre are difficult.

If so try the following which are in easy walking distance of the Praça de Espanha Metro Stop.

Ibis Malhoa
http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels/fichehotel/gb/ibi/1668/fiche_hotel.shtml

Novotel Malhoa
http://www.novotel.com/novotel/fichehotel/gb/nov/0784/fiche_hotel.shtml
(Check out cheap offers on the web)

I would suggest that you might want to take a two day trip at the beginning of you visit to either Coimbra or porto.

Both are easily accessible by train from Gare de Oriente 5 minutes by cab from Lisbon Airport. Porto is 3 hours by train from Lisbon and its river area is delightful. Coimbra is the home to one of the oldest Universities in Europe and although small full of Character.

Car Hire - Pick up Faro Drop Off Lisbon

For pick up in Faro and drop off in Lisbon, I would recommend:

Auto Jardim

see: http://www.carhireyes.com/autojardim/

or

Hertz.

see: http://www.carhireyes.com/hertz/

Most of the local Algarve Car Hire companies do not do Lisbon drop offs.

lagos to madrid via bus

1) Flights - It looks like Ryanair have pulled the plug permanently on this route. See this article on my blog.

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/ryanair-faro-mardid-route.html

However, don't despair you do not need to go via Gatwick.

Vueling.com and Easyjet.com operate flights from Madrid to Lisbon. From Gare de Oriente, near the airport you can get a Renex Bus to Lagos for +- Euro 18.00 or a train t.o Lagos for not much more.

2) Buses from Madrid to Lagos. The cheapest route is probably to take a Socibus bus from Madrid to Seville and connect with the twice daily DAMAS/EVA service to Lagos. Note this operates only on weekdays in winter.

If you got the overnight Socibus service from Madrid at 22:00 arriving at 05:15 you could connect with the 07:30 DAMAS bus from Seville to Lagos arriving at 12:00.

Total cost should not be more than Euro 60.

It is possible to Madrid - Lisbon - Lagos via Lisbon Gare de Oriente but this route tends to be more expensive.

For more info, see http://cubsur's www.algarve-bus.info.

Lisbon - Seville Vueling.com Route Cancellation

Following the comment by Anonymous posted on this blog on 24th November 2007, and following investigations by various blogs, including Sergio Bastos (Obrigado, Sergio) of http://www.lowcostportugal.net/, Vueling have finally confirmed that the Lisbon to Seville route that the airline intended to start operating from 1st November 2007 has been cancelled.

Apparently, those who have booked already have been offered their money back. It is interesting that another low-cost is showing signs of the "Ryanair syndrome". Announce or launch routes and then cancel them with a minimum or no publicity.

For more information see the following link: (in Portuguese)

http://www.lowcostportugal.net/editorial/anatomia-de-uma-noticia/2007/11/

Ryanair - Faro - Madrid Route

It has now been confirmed via several sources that Ryanair suspended their service between Faro and Madrid last week. Once again Faro has no direct air links to a growing and important tourist market.

The company cited the fact that after only 10 months of operation they only were achieving a 48,6% load factor on the route. However, the reports quoting this statistic fail to point out that Ryanair, while initially operating 7 flights a week on the route, dropped the frequency to 4 a week in early summer. It would be interesting to know if the percentage figure quoted reflected this or was calculated on 7 flights a week.

It would be also interesting to know whether they considered dropping frequencies to 3 times a week - loadings then presumably would increase accordingly to in the order of 60%. Ryanair do operate thrice weekly services on other routes in Europe - Why not Faro?

After the debacle of the cancellation of their Girona - Faro route after 2 months of operation, one has to question Ryanair's strategy for entering the Spain to Faro market. They were receiving incentives from the authorities to operate a route which in the case of Madrid - Faro would have become profitable over time. I question their complete lack of apppropriate local marketing (e.g. billboards) in the Algarve and Coast da Luz (Huelva) areas. Many locals, especially from the expat communities in the Algarve, were simply unaware of the route because they don't read the local press. it appears that, as with its policies elswhere in Europe, unless it can make a quick buck, they will get out of a route as soon as they can with minimal public announcements etc. This also happened recently on their Dublin to Porto Service. As a result passengers who h ad already booked their flights were offered refunds or alternatives seats on flights from Faro (600km away.)

Let's hope the Algarve tourism authorities (RTA) can attract other airlines to routes such as Faro - Madrid, as well as Faro - Paris and Faro Milan.

However, hopefully, not Ryanair!

While I understand that low-cost airlines have to depend on turnover, they should not expect to receive incentives for a route and then drop it when they want to. They should also do proper market research beforehand to try ensure viability of a route or accept that it takes time for traffic to develop and "stay the course."

Late night Public transport between seville airport and ayamonte

Unfortunately, DAMAS.es the main bus operator on the Seville - Ayamonte route currently have their timetables off-line.

According to the TUSSAM site, there are buses from Seville Airport to Seville Sta. Justa station at 23:15,23:45,00:15 and 00:45. Sundays and Holidays last bus is at 23:45.

Once you get to Sta. Justa station you then have to get a local bus or taxi to the Plaza das Armas Bus Station. You will probably not arrive there till midnight at least.

From memory and a quick check of other websites, including Cubsur's www.algarvebus.info, there are no buses between Seville and Ayamonte between 00:00 and 04:00. The 04:00 departure is operated by Socibus and is the continuation of the Madrid Service. However, the Socibus site suggests that the service, while stopping in Seville does not pick up for Ayamonte.

Alsa.es has a departure at 23:59 to Ayamonte arriving 01:50.

You should check the availability of this service as it is an international service continuing to Faro in the Algarve and may be limited in winter. It will be a very tight connection unless you take a cab from Seville Airport to Plaza das Armas, which will cost +- € 30 methinks.

Their contact is:

ALSA Customer service
C/ Miguel Fleta, 4 - 2º
28037 - Madrid (Spain)

Telephone: 91 327 05 40
E-mail: alsa@alsa.es

Bus is the only way to get from Seville to Ayamonte by public transport. There is no train service.

My gut instinct is that such a connection will be very tight and that if your flight is delayed you will be in deep doggy-doo.

Better to overnight in Seville and take a bus the next morning from Plaza das Armas. Subject to DAMAS timetable revisions buses leave Seville for Ayamonte at:

0930, 1100, 1230, 1530, 1800 and 1900

Vueling - Lisbon to Seville

I am grateful to Anonymous, who unfortunately made a booking that was subsequently cancelled, for this news.

It appears that Vueling are not launching their promised Lisbon to Seville flights on 1 December 2007 as originally stated.

I apologise for the inconvienence you have suffered.

I try to ensure that information I post on this blog is correct at the time of posting.

What operators subsequently do, especially in the case of airlines such as Ryanair and in this case, Vueling, who do not announce publicly the ending of services or dropping of potential new services after being announced, it beyond my remit.

Again thanks for the info.

Portugal to Spain - Evora to Badajoz - Pt 2.

As regards trains, there definitely used to be a service years ago but it appears that passenger train services between Elvas and Badajoz have been discontinued. There are no timetables on the Portuguese Railways or Spanish Railways site and neither the Town Councils of Elvas and Badajoz have a mention of such a service. In fact they do not have any info on public transport between the 2 towns.

I am not aware of any cabs that run between the towns.

However, in most Portuguese towns like Evora and Elvas one will find a local cab. However, I suspect that they will try to charge an arm and a leg, even if you speak Portuguese...and even more so if you speak Spanish.

Have a look at the Badajoz Town Council Tourism site

http://www.turismobadajoz.es

You might want to email them for info.

Rede Expressos - A national Portuguese bus company are showing the following buses between Evora and Elvas at times that might be useful:

Evora: Partida: 13:45 h Arrive Elvas: 15:00 h
Evora: Partida: 17:00 h Arrive Elvas: 18:35 h
Preço: 9.50 €

As far as I can see most of the long distance trans frontier buses only operate at times that may be not useful to you i.e. early morning, lunchtime or late evening.

Eurolines have a bus leaving Evora at 11:15 arriving Badajoz at 13:45

You can find the Eurolines Spain Timetable in pdf format on my blog at:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

>> Scroll down on the right until you come to the panel marked

"Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links"

Scroll down to the item marked:

Eurolines Spain - Spain Portug"al Timetable - Winter 2008"

Portugal to Spain - Evora to Badajoz

I must admit that I have not personally done this particular route by public sector transport.

However, Spanish bus operator Alsa shows a twice daily service at 11:15 and 22:45 running between Evora and Badajoz.

I would recommend the 11:15 one as it allows one to arrive at Badajoz at 13:45. The latter town is not one you really want to arrive in at 01:45 in the morning.

Alsa website:

http://www.alsa.es

Check out Cubsur's site here for more potential info:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

See the section at the bottom of the page on travel between Portugal and Spain

Old Road Bridge Closure - Portimão

The old EN 125 metal road bridge over the Rio Arade in Portimão has been closed following instructions from the Government's Road Agency as it is in need of immediate repair.

It is likely to be closed through the second part of 2009 while being rehabilitated. This will cause delays to some local bus services.

See this artucle on cubsurś site for more:

Traveling from Germany to Spain / Portugal - Winter

If warmth is what you are after, I do not recommend either mainland Spain nor Portugal in December as temperatures in both countries at that time are unlikely to exceed 17ºC and will probably be much lower.

You best bet is to consider the Spanish Canary Islands which are much farther South.and average temps in December of 21ºC.

See:

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/travel/news/s/76/76288_az_of_worldwide_weather.html

Air Berlin operate to the Canaries from Dortmund and Tuifly from Dusseldorf and

http://www.airberlin.com/
http://www.tuifly.com

I have not been to the Canary Isalnds from many years and you would need to research this further. However, they are within the EU and I understand that depending on your destination town there is pretty much year round action.

Faro to Granada Xmas 2007

There are no train services between the Algarve and Andaluzia.

Ryanair has been operating flights between Faro and Madrid where you could connect to Granada with Spanair but it looks like this service is going to be suspended over the winter.

There is therefore only one real option.

Get an alsa.es bus from Faro as follows:

FARO 02:00
TAVIRA 02:30
VILA REAL ST ANTONIO 02:45
AYAMONTE 04:00
HUELVA 04:30
SEVILLA 05:45 (change bus)
GRANADA 09:00

Buses leave from outside Faro Bus Station. Tickets should be purchased online at www.alsa.es or a day or two before from the travel agency on the left as one walks into faro Bus Station.

Taxi from Vale de Lobo, Algarve to Granada

Firstly, according to Michelin.com, Vale de Lobo - Granada is a distance of 466km with a transit time for approx 5hrs.

I can vouch for this as I did Lagos - Granada by car myself this time last year.

I therefore find it very unlikely that you will find a Portuguese taxi driver willing to do such a long trip.

As an example of fares, a taxi from Faro Airport to Lisbon, a distance of 280 kms, is officaily quoted in the Faro Airport Guide 2007 at up to € 317.00 for a 4 seater taxi. A taxi to Seville in the same guide is quoted at up to € 206.00. This is slightly cheaper pro-rata as there are no tolls on this route.

On this basis if you were able to find a taxi to take you, you would probably be looking at a fare of between € 430 and € 500 depending on whether week-end/weekday/day/night.

Where to live in lagos!???

....and some of us here in Lagos, are already considering decamping to the North...

with the recently authorised expansion of Meia Praia alone, to house from 5000 people to 10000 people with 3 new hotels and housing developments, the time is soon coming in Lagos when, to quote Max Bygraves...

"Fings Ain't Wot They Used to Be"!

Finally, be vewy vewy careful with local real estate agents....they are all out for one thing....make a sale!

Finally, in my opinion, with the volume of unsold housing stock here in Lagos, prices, except for really upmarket quality villas, are at least 10 to 15% overpriced.

Lisbon Sintra Trains Tunnel de Rossio

Dated Friday 26th October 2008, CP (Portuguese Railways) have announced that the Rossio rail Tunnel linking Restauradores Station to Sintra will reopen on 16 de Fevereiro de 2008.

See:

Rossio Reopening

Lisbon Nazaré

By Car Nazaré is only just over 1 hour from Lisbon.

The nearest railway station is Valado dos Frades, 4km from Nazaré . However, by train one has to take the Linha do Oeste from Lisbon Entrecampos via Cacem and Caldas da Rainha.

Transit time is between 3hours and 3 hours 30min. This is not really ideal for a day trip as you would then need to get a taxi or bus to Nazaré..

There are 4 or 5 long distance coaches operate between Lisbon Sete Rios Coach Station and Nazaré daily by Rede Expressos.

Unfortunately, I cannot supply detailed times for the service as the Rede Expressos website, despite requests, only works in Internet Explorer and I do not recommend, support nor work with web-sites that are not cross-browser compatible.

Postscript: I am grateful to Cubsur who has advised that the Rede Expressos website can now be viewed in browsers other than Internet Explorer - One just needs to ignore the "View only Messages."

Firefox 2.0 has no problem viewing the site at: http://www.rede-expressos.pt

WARNING -Swimming of the Western Algarve Coast

Much as we want visitors to come to our region, please be very careful when swimming of beaches where there are no lifeguards etc.

This morning there is tragica news of the death of 4 tourists - 3 British and 1 German citiszen who tried to effect a rescue.

The story can be read here on the BBC News website:

Britons drown off Portugal coast

Please, please, please be very careful especially on the West Coast beaches around Sagres.!

Algarve to Lisbon - Train Stations

The train from the Algarve stop at two Stations in Lisbon - Entrecampos and Gare Oriente.

For Restauradores, leave the train at Entrecampos.

Take the Metro - Linha Amarela in the direction of Rato and descend at Marques de Pombal Station. Change to the Linha Azul direction Baixa Chiado and descend at Restauradores.

Note that if your intention is to catch the train to Sintra from Restauradores Station, this station is closed as the tunnel is being repaired. All trains from Lisbon to Sintra now leave from Entrecampos Station.

Tarifa to Lagos

The only option for getting by public transport from Tarifa to Lagos is by Bus via Seville. Note that between October and April, the direct buses from Seville to Lagos only operate on wekk-days. (Not week-ends nor public holidays.)

Timetable for coaches between Tarifa and Seville can be found here:

http://www.tgcomes.es/horarios_33_english.htm

Timetables for the DAMAS/EVA service can be found here
at Cubsur's excellent site:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Opera - Portimão - late October 2007

There is an Opera Festival in Portimão between 16th and 27th October 2007.

Details in portuguese here:

Opera Portimão

Following comment in English courtesy of algarveholidayer....

" If you are in Portimão or Praia da Rocha between Tuesday16th and Saturday 27th October you might take the opportunity to go to the Opera in Portimão.

The programme starts with a Gala evening on Tuesday 16th October with arias from various famous Operas.
This is followed by La Traviata on the 19th & 20th October followed by Fidelio on the 23rd and then Tosca on the 26th and 27th.

All Operas start at 9.30PM and tickets can be obtained from the venue the Municipal Auditorium (this is at Avenida Miguel Bombarda; near the main tourist office in Portimão Avenida Zéca Afonso).

Entry fee is only 15 euros per show and tickets are available from the Auditorium box office from 2PM to 8PM now; except on the days of the performance when they can be bought from 10AM.

Enjoy !"

Ryanair - Flights from Faro and Porto

It seems like that Ryanair are cancelling various services in Mid-November including:

Porto - Dublin
Faro - Madrid

I have checked these on the Ryanair site and there are no flights coming up on these routes through April 2008.!!!

Transportation from Lagos to Lisboa on Sunday?

You may find the EVA Bus service from Lagos Bus Station to Lisbon Sete Rios Coach Station a bit quicker than the train at 3:45min.

There are Sunday departures as follows:

Dep. arr.

LAGOS LISBOA 07:45 11:30
LAGOS LISBOA 10:15 14:00
LAGOS LISBOA 12:45 16:30
LAGOS LISBOA 15:30 19:15
LAGOS LISBOA 18:15 22:00

See:

http://www.eva-bus.com

Travel from Porto to Lisbon

The shortest road distance between Lisbon and Porto and vice versa is 318km / 03h22min by car according to Michelin.

There are four ways to travel this route

Air - Expensive and only one operator TAP
Rail - The Best
Road - Car Hire - More interesting as you can stop en route.
Bus - Cheapest

See this link on my blog for more info on rail and bus which I recommend.

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/lisbon-to-porto.html

Jewish Contacts Algarve

You may find the following contacts of interest:

Services:

JEWISH RELIGIOUS NOTICES
Erev Shabbat Services.
Algarve
Tel: 00 351 282416710

and

http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.org/country/portugal/portugal.htm

Sintra to Cabo da Roca

The following is the Winter 2006/2007 bus timetable from Scotturb for the bus service Sintra - Cabo da Roca - Cascais

Car Parking in Lisbon and Porto

Hi!

You best bet for parking in Lisbon coming from the North is to head towards Gare Oriente Rail/Bus Station/Vasco da Gama Centre. This is near the airport bordering the Tejo and has the advantage as being linked to the Metro (Linha Vermelha), and the suburban rail network.

From there you can get the Metro to Alameida Station and there change to the Linha Verde from where you can get easily to Rossio/Baixa Chiado for the centre of the old town.

Any way you come definitely avoid driving into Lisbon. Park and use the Metro/Suburban Rail Services.

You can find the metro site in English here:

http://www.metrolisboa.pt/Default.aspx?tabid=271

As regards Porto, I do not know the city as well as Lisbon and the South. However, there are plenty of reports that traffic there is bad as well.

If driving I would suggest that you head for the F.C. Porto (Estádio do Dragão ) football stadium and find parking near there. Thereafter you can use the the Light Metro System to travel around.

See the following reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porto_Metro

Another option as regards Porto is to take the train.

According to the current CP timetable, there is a morning departure as follows:

Leiria 7h10 Porto Campanha 9h44
(Change in Coimbra)
22 Euros one way 2nd Class

There is a return at:

Porto 17h45 Leiria 20h21

I think this would be an option to consider as it only takes 2hrs 36 mins, would avoid paying motorway tolls, take you the centre of Porto and avoid a lot of stress.

Hope this helps.

Check out my blog at

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

where you may find further info of interest.

Lisbon to Porto - Public Transport

Hi!

Train timetables:

Go to my blog

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side till you come to the panel:

"Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links"

Click on:

"Porto - Lisbon - Porto Train Timetable"

You will then be able to download the timetable for this route from the Portuguese Railways website.

2) Bus timetables:

Go to my blog

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side till you come to the panel:

"Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links"

Click on:

"RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Porto timetable"

You will then be able to download the timetable for this route from the Renex Coach company website.

There are also regular buses throughout the day from Lisboa Sete Rios Coach Station to Porto operated by Rede Expressos.

Unfortunately, the Rede Expressos site is horribly designed, only works in Internet Explorer and is in Portuguese. I do not normally handle requests for this company's timetables, because despite requests to them, they have not made it possible for users of computers without Internet Explorer installed to use their site

Please note that these timetables are the latest but may always change over the winter.

Hiring a car in faro(portugal) and dropping it off at Malaga airport

Unfortunately there is no cheap way to do this.

The only companies with which you will be able to do this are the big global car hire firms such as Avis, Hertz, Europcar. The one way drop of fee will be substantial as this will be classed as inter-country drop-off.

I would suggest that you best bet would be to take public transport From Faro to somewhere like Ayamonte just over th border in Spain and then pick up a hire car there.

Auriga Crown Car Hire have offices in Islantilla near Ayamonte and Malaga.

Contact Details are:

Islantilla
Address: Calle Islantilla Local B-4
Post code: 21410
City: Huelva
Province: Huelva
Country: Spain
Telephone number: 959 646 075
Mobil: 619 038 947
Fax: 959 646 049
E-mail address: huelva@aurigacrown.com
Manager: Juan Carlos Moreno

You might be able to contact them and they may be able to meet you in Ayamonte.

To get to Ayamonte from Faro, you can take the train to Vila Real Stª. Antonio and then the ferry to Ayamonte or Bus from Faro to Ayamonte.

See these posts on my blog for more info:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/search?q=Faro+Malaga

and

cubsur's excellent site at:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Algarve Beaches

The Algarve appears to be a large area but is in reality only 160 km long by 40 km wide. Most places are accessible with 90 minutes via the coastal A22 spinal motorway.

Answering your questions as to "Which small towns in the Algarve have the nicest beaches nearby?" depends really on your definition of a small town.

I would suggest that there are two main areas that would be suitable:

1) In the East, around the town of Tavira where there are coastal beaches, beaches on estuaries and on islands a few hundred metres off-shore.

2) In the West, in the area running from Lagos to Sagres and then up the West Coast towards Aljezur/Vale de Telha and Odeceixe.

In this area, you can find:

Meia Praia - a five km long sandy beach skirting Lagos Bay opposite the town of Lagos.
Salema - a one km long beach fronting the picturesque fishing village of Salema, 20 km west of Lagos.
Praia da Zavial - sandy, cliffed line beach 4km from the village of Raposeira on the N 125 and 25 km from Lagos.
Praia da Ingrina - 1 km from Zavial. Small Cove with small beach but delightful.
Sagres - Several beaches tucked into to the cliffs. Warning Access may require climibing up and down 10o steps or more.
Praia Castellano - 25km from Lagos - Accessible via the feeder road that leads out behind the market in the town of Vila de Bispo. Great long cliff-lined beach. Parking can be a hassle in summer or week-ends.
Carrapateira/Bordeira - 35kms from Lagos via Vila de Bispo. Surfer/Sandy Beaches. Carapateira is a small traditional village.
Odeceixe - 45 km from Lagos on the Alentejo Border.

Note there are lots of other small and hidden beaches in this region.

There are also one or two hidden coves between Ferragudo, Carveiro and Armação de Pera but these are becoming fewer in number with development in the area.

Albufeira in December

The average weather conditions for Faro:
Weatheronline reports:

The average daily maximum temperature for Albufeira is between 15°C and 18°C. At night it cools down to temperatures between 8°C and 13°C. On average there are 3 days with precipitation. The daily sunshine duration is about 5 hours. On average there is a gentle breeze of 3 Bft (Beaufort Force). This analysis is based on data from the past 10 years.

Have a look at this site:

http://albufeirawebsite.com

It can be a bit parky but if you get a warm day it can be nice.

Many places do close in early December but open again for Xmas.

Lisbon to Elvas

There are regular buses throughout the day from Lisboa Sete Rios Coach Station to Elvas operated by Rede Expressos.

Unfortunately, the Rede Expressos site is horribly designed, only works in Internet Explorer and is in Portuguese. I do not normally handle requests for this company's timetables, because despite requests to them, they have not made it possible for users of computers without Internet Explorer installed to use their site.

However, I have made an exception in this case and borrowed a Windows machine.

There are departures from Lisboa Sete Rios Coach Station to Elvas at:

08:30
12:00
14:15
15:00
17:30
18:30
19:30

Transit time is about 3 hours and cost circa Euro 13.00

To get to Sete Rios from Lisbon airport take a cab. It should cost between Euros 7 and Euros 10 depending on traffic, number of bags and time of day. There is no metro at the airport and no direct bus service from the Airport to Sete Rios.

Lisbon Airport to Leiria

Unfortunately, there is no easy way by public transport from Lisbon Airport to Leiria.

The best option is to take a taxi from Lisbon Airport (There is no Metro Service) to Sete Rios Bus Station and from there catch a Rede-Expressos Coach to Leiria. (Transit time about 2 hours.)

See:

http://www.rede-expressos.pt/

For more info. Note that this site only works on Windows equipped machines with IE5.5 or higher.

For this reason I do not provide timetable info from this site because despite requests for it to be enabled for other browsers there has been no reply from the company on this over seevral months.

This is the best public transport option as travelling by train requires a taxi ride and then a 4 hour trip with 3 changes.

There are certain transfer companies that offer a service including

http://www.low-cost-transfers.com/lisbon-airport/

Lisbon to Vigo

The long distance coach company Internorte -

http://www.internorte.pt

- operates a daily departure from Lisbon Gare Oriente to Vigo.

LISBOA-GARE ORIENTE 09.15H
VIGO 17.30H

Note there are two departures on Fridays and Sundays.

By Rail there is only one connecting train departure daily from Lisbon Gare Oriente via Porto Campanha station to Vigo in Spain:

Depart Lisbon Oriente: 14:09
Arrive Porto Campanha: 16:44
Deaprt Porto Campanha: 17:55
Arrive Vigo : 22:37

Please note that these times are based on the summer 2007 timetable. New timetables may enter force at the end of September.

For more sources see:

http://www.cp.pt
http://www.renfe.es
http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Alvor to Silves

Get the No. 14 Shuttle to Portimão first.

Timetable here on cubsur's excellent site:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/052.htm

Frota Azul operate bus services between Portimão and Silves which takes 45 minutes.:

Their web site is here but only in Portuguese.

Summary of timetable as follows;

Portimao 07:30 Weekdays Only
Silves 08:15

Portimao 08:30 Daily
Silves 09:05

Portimao 10:45 Weekdays Only
Silves 11:20

Portimao 12:00 Daily
Silves 12:35

Portimao 14:15 Weekdays Only
Silves 14:50

Portimao 15:50 Daily
Silves 16:25

Portimao 16:30 Weekdays Only
Silves 17:05

Portimao 17:45 Daily
Silves 18:20

Portimao 19:10 Daily
Silves 19:45

Weekday Services do not run on Public Holidays.

There are an equivalent number of return services.

Return Tickets Cost € 4:90.

From Albuferia to Tanger

It is not at all possible to go to Tanger and back from Albufeira in one day.

You will need at least one day to get to Tanger,(including ferry crossing), one day there, and one day to get back.

The only way to get from Albufeira to Cadiz is to take the bus to Seville and then another one to Cadiz.

There are currently four buses a day between Lagos and Seville Plaza das Armas although this may reduce to two at the end of September.

Timetable as follows:

ALBUFEIRA SEVILHA 06:15 10:45
ALBUFEIRA SEVILHA 08:35 14:00
ALBUFEIRA SEVILHA 13:15 17:45
ALBUFEIRA SEVILHA 16:35 22:00

See these page for more details:

http://www.eva-bus.com/home_pesquisa2.php?lang=PT&servico=0&origem=ALBUFEIRA&destino=SEVILHA&Procurar=Ok

and

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Transports Generals Gomes and Linsur operate buses from Seville to Algeciras with a transit time of 3:30 minutes.

Timetable for teh first here:

http://www.tgcomes.es/horarios_33_english.htm

The second Linesur does not have on-line timetables but appears to have several services daily.

If you get one of the early departures from Albufeira to Seville at 0530, 0730, 1230 you should be easily able to connect with a bus to Algeciras.which will get there at 18:30 and allow to get a ferry during the night to Tanger.


.

2 Days Algarve, 4 Days Seville, Granada/ Gibraltar?

Firstly, you are planning to do far to much in one week. Note Granada is well east of Seville and your return trip to Tangier will be stressful as indicated by Cubsur.

You don't indicate what time you are arriving in Lisbon so the following suggestions are conditional.

1) Take a taxi from Lisbon Airport to Gare Oriente Bus Station.

2) I suggest you go to Granada first and then work you way back.
You will need at least two days there to do the Alhambra, The Cathedral and generally enjoy the place.

Until 30th September 2007 there is a overnight coach departure from Lisbon Gare de Oriente Coach Station to Granada.

Lis GO Departs: 20:45
Granada Arrives: 09:00 (next day.)

Operated by alsa.es

website: www.alsa.es

3) Then take a bus from Granada to Seville.
Again you willl need a couple of days to the Cathedral, Alcazar and the other main sites.

4) From Seville take a bus to Tavira.

see cubsur's excellent web site for more info:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm#damas
.
6) From Tavira to Lagos use the train or Bus.

7) From Lagos to Lisbon take the train or EVA bus.

Have a look at my blog where I keep a lot of past posts on these areas as well as links to timetables.

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Lisbon Airport to Lisbon Centre

Get a taxi as there is no metro.

The Airbus is fine from the Airport to the following points:

Entrecampos
Saldanha
Pombal
Restauradores
Rossio
Cais de Sodre.

Used it last week. € 3.00 per ticket

But then you still need to know how to get to your hotel and if it's up one of Lisbon´s hills you don't want to know about it with bags.

Montegordo Lisbon

The main train stations for Algarve in Lisbon are Entrecampos (about 4km from Praça de Rossio) and Gare de Oriente (about 10 km away.)

From Monte Gordo you wold have to get a local train to Faro and then an Intercity to Lisbon.

As the Winter timetables are not yet out I cannot provide times. Check back at the end of September

The main bus stations for Algarve in Lisbon are Sete Rios (about 4km from Praça de Rossio) and Gare de Oriente (about 10 km away.)

EVA Transportes runs daily coach services to Lisbon Sete Rios at:

MONTE GORDO LISBOA 05:05 09:30
MONTE GORDO LISBOA 07:05 11:45
MONTE GORDO LISBOA 09:35 14:15
MONTE GORDO LISBOA 15:05 19:45
MONTE GORDO LISBOA 17:35 22:15

From the coach station take a taxi to the Metropole.

For more info:

Cubsur's

www.algarvebus.info

Also have a look at this article on my blog:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/faro-to-lisbon.html

Algarve Sunday Opening?

Hi!

Bld211 is right!

You are going to be hard pushed though to get to one of the large supermarkets if you are arriving 11ish as by the time you've cleared immigration, got the car etc, it could be precious close to 13:00.

If you clear the airport by 12:15 head for Jumbo in Faro. Instructions on my blog here:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/algarve-late-night-arrivals.html

If you do not make it head for Lagos along the motorway. Take the exit for Lagos Este. Follow the exit road for 4km until you come to a roundabout. Turn right and follow the road into Lagos until you come to second roundabout (With Fountain in Shape of a caravel).

Turn left into the center passing the Galp Service Station on your right. Continue straight over the following roundabout - you are then on the main Avenida. About 1 km further on you will find on your right a supermarket called Marrachino. They are open all day Sunday and will at least provide you with your immediate needs.

To getback to PDL continue along the Avenida, up paste the Fire Station and the road will eventually lead after 7 kms to traffic lights where you can turn left to Praia Da Luz

Santiago da Compostela to the Algarve

Hi!

Travelling by rail from Santiago de Compostela to the Algarve by rail will be convoluted and will probably entail at least 3 changes and you may not be able to buy tickets online.

I would suggest that a trip by coach may be quicker and easier:

The Portuguese Coach company Internorte advertise a twice daily service from Santiago de Compostela to Lisbon with departures from Santiago de Compostela ESTACION DE AUTOBUSES at:

Dept: 22:00 Arrive Lisbon Gare Oriente 05:45
Dept: 10:00 Arrive Lisbon Gare Oriente 18:00

Their web-site is here:

http://www.internorte.pt - Click on Horarios to download their huge timetable in pdf format and scroll to Page 50.

From the same bus station in Lisbon you can then connect with RENEX bus services to the Algarve departing at 07:30 and 19:00 respectively. Trips take about four to five hours depending on destination.

You can download the RENEX timetable from my blog:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right until you come to:

Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

Click on:

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

If you are determined to go by train you will have to get a RENFE (renfe.es) service in Spain from Santiago da Compostela to Madrid, then connect to a train to Lisbon and then yet another train to The Algarve. (See Portuguese Railways at: www.cp.pt)

The only connection would be as follows:

Train: 00152 TALGO

Santiago da Compostela 13:37 21:32 MADRID

Train: 00332 TRENHOTEL

Madrid 22:45 Lisbon Oriente 07:45

Train: AlfaPendular

Lisbon Oriente: 08:40 Tunes(Algarve) 11:24 (Junction for all destinations on the Algarve Line.)

Where am I?

After a long trip by air and road from Lagos to Lisbon, Paris, Johannesburg, Mbabane, and Maputo, I have just arrived in George in the Western Cape in South Africa.

I will be back in the saddle at the end of next week and will be posting a full report on this great trip.

Porto to Oviedo

This will not be easy! There are no direct trains or buses.

You best bet appears to be the bus service four times per day between Porto and La Coruna which take about five hours.

Then from La Coruna to Oviedo you get another bus (four or five per day) with the same company to Oviedo again taking about 5 hours.

Cost will be about +-€ 50 each way

You can find the web site here:

www.alsa.es

For the return to Lisbon you would have to either come back by the same route via Porto or route via MIRANDA DE EBRO.

There is a train from Oviedo that leaves at 19:34 and connects with the daily train from Paris to Lisbon leaving MIRANDA DE EBRO at 00:40 and arriving in Lisbon at 11.03.

For more information see www.renfe.es

TAP Air Portugal More Problems

F.C. Porto, one of the top three football clubs in Portugal, yesterday announced that they are going to stop using TAP/Air Portugal after the team's flight from Schiphol to Porto was redirected in mid-air to Lisbon without any by your leave! When one of the team management began to remonstrate with the crew, his name was taken and reported to the Police on landing.

Article (in Portuguese) here:

http://sportugal.pt/noticia.php?categoriaID=8¬iciaID=27216

The team then had to get a coach onwards to Porto. This has been all over the Portuguese News Channels and again regretably, reflects the ongoing problems, TAP has with customer relations and treating clients reasonably.

Travel from Porto to San Sebastian

You have two options:

Train:

Train from Porto to Coimbra Departing 16:52 and arriving Coimbra 17:56.

Connect with the nightly Sud-Express Lisbon to Paris train.

This leaves Coimbra at :18:26 and arrives San Sebastian the next morning at 06:34

The bus company Internorte operates a coach service from Porto to Germany that passes through San Sebastian.

website: http://www.internorte.pt

Their downloadable timetable shows a departure daily at 20:30 from Porto Praça da Galiza arriving San Sebastian at 06:30 the next morning.

Unfortunately prices are not displayed on the respective web sites but I suspect that the coach will be the cheapest.

If you are heading in the area of San Sebastian, you should try to detour or day trip via Bilbao and visit the Guggenheim Museum.

Do I need an electrical converter for a PC lap top in Portugal.

Voltage this side of the pond is 220/240V.

Check the bottom of the transformer for your laptop. For the past 5 years or so most have been manufactured and supplied with dual voltage 110V/240V transformers. If it showns this on the transformer you should be OK to use it in Portugal.

No come back on me though, if something happens...! If you are not confident get a friendly nerd to check for you.)

You will need a dual round pin european plug adapter to allow you to plug in Portuguese sockets.

See this article for more:

http://goeurope.about.com/cs/electricity/l/bl_electricity.htm

Algarve Portugal to Morocco

Unfortunately, the only way from the Algarve to Morocco is via Seville and Algeciras/Tarifa.

There are no direct flights.

There is no rail link from the Algarve into Spain.

The road routes run east from the Algarve frontier to Huelva and then to Seville. There reason is that there is a large national park protecting the Dona Ana Area and Guadalquivir river estuary that lies between Huelva and Cadiz. There are no routes through this park and so one has no alternative but to pass through Seville.

However, there are good bus services from the Algarve to Seville and from Seville to Algeciras/Tarifa.

On the return there are services that run from Seville to Lisbon.

Check out this post on my blog which may help:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/search?q=Tarifa

Faro to Lisbon

Travel from Faro to Lisbon

From Faro Airport one would need to get a taxi or bus to the station which is 150m from the Bus station.

Note that the buses only operate about very 90 minutes.


There are three ways to travel between Faro Downtown and Lisbon:

Air

TAP, the national airline is the only operator on the route. There are several flights per day from Faro Airport to Lisbon where there are connecting flights to Porto.

This is usually the most expensive option and not much quicker than train unless you get the very early morning service.

There are often also delays on the route.

Rail

You can download the Algarve- Lisbon timetables in pdf format on my blog at:

Go to:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right until you come to:

Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

Click on:

Portuguese Railways - Summer 2007 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

This will allow you to download a timetable in pdf format which shows the services from Faro to Lisbon.

Transit time will be +- 3 hours from Faro Railway Station to Lisboa Entrecampos for downtown Lisbon. .

Bus

For Bus:

Have a look at http://www.renex.pt for services to Lisbon Gare Oriente. Timetables are downloadable on my blog under:

Algarve & Portugal

>> RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

There are 6 services a day with a transit time of 4 hours to Lisbon Gare Oriente.

Buses leave Faro from in front of the bus station and tickets can be bought at the RENEX office opposite the bus station.

There are also 6 bus buses daily operated by EVA Transportes from Faro Bus Station to Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Ststions.

Departures at: 06:15, 08:30, 11:00, 13:00, 16:30, 19:00

Transit time 3hrs 15min.

The bus will probably be the cheapest, but the train will not be much more.


For more info also see:

http://www.algarvebus.info
http://www.solpraiaferias.com/index.php?content=cheg_en

Algarve - Albufeira - Fatima

Fatima lies about 350km North of Albufeira. If you have a car you can do a long day trip as follows:

-Exit Albufeira on the EN 125 direction Guia.
-Turn right onto the IC1
-After 1km turn right onto the A22 motorway in the direction of Faro and Espanha.
-After 6km head onto the E01 / A2 / IP1 motorway toll road in the direction of Lisbon
-After 2 hours follow the signs for the A13 Santarém
-On arriving in the Santarem Area, head onto E01 / E80 / A1 / IP1 Motorway.
-Continue until you see the off-ramp for Fatima.
-Exit for Fatima.

By train, the trip is not easy!

You would need to get a train from Albufeira Station, actually situated at Ferreiras, 8km from Albufeira to Lisbon Gare Oriente.

You would then need to get a train from Lisbon Gare Oriente to Caxarias (About 1 hours 15 minutes.) and then a bus from there to Fatima at: 7.00, 8.45, 10.45, 13.45, 15.05, 17.05 e 19.10

For trains from the Algarve to Lisbon you can download the timetable in pdf format via my blog here:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Scroll down on the right until you come to the panel entitled:

>> Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

select: Portuguese Railways - Summer 2007 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

For the timetable Lisbon to Caxarias

select: Porto - Lisbon - Porto Train Timetable

Note that although there is a station marked Fatima it is not close to the Sanctuary. (Caxarias is the station to use.)

Rede Expressos, a national coach company, operate services from Albufeira Bus station to Lisbon Sete Rios Coach Station. From there, there are services to Fatima.

Unfortunately their online timetables are not easily viewed as the website is old. You can see their timetable here:

http://www.rede-expressos.pt

There are several departures daily, depending on time of year and season with a transit time of about 5 - 7 hours hours with a change in Lisbon.

It is best to check at Albufeira Bus Station prior to travelling.

Lagos to Cadiz

The only way to get from Lagos to Cadiz is to take the bus to Seville and then another one to Cadiz.

There are currently four buses a day between Lagos and Seville Plaza das Armas.

See this page for more details:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Transports Generals Gomes operate buses every couple of hours from Seville Plaza das Armas to Cadiz with a transit time of 1:45 minutes.

Website here:

http://www.tgcomes.es/

If you get one of the departures from Lagos to Seville at 0530, 0730, 1230 you should be easily able to connect with a bus to Cadiz.

Bakery and Birthday Cakes - Lagos

Can't help you in Alvor, but if you come over to Lagos, go and see Winni at the German Bakery near the Cultural Centre -

Padaria do Wini
German bakery for typical 'deutsche kuchen und torten'.
Rua S. Gonçalo, 10, Lagos | tel: (282) 76 01 46

Very Nice!

Lisbon to Tarifa/Algeciras

Hi!

The only feasible way at present to do this route by Public Transport is by bus. From December 2007 Vueling.com will be operating a low cost flight Lisbon to Sevile three days a week.

You need to take the twice daily ALSA.ES bus from Lisbon Gare Oriente to Sevile and then a TRANSPORTES GENERALES COMES or ALSA.ES bus from Seville to Tarifa / Algeciras.

For timetables and more info see:

Cubsur's excellent site at:

The only feasible way at present to do this route by Public Transport is by bus. From December 2007 Vueling.com will be operating a low cost flight Lisbon to Sevile three days a week.

You need to take the twice daily ALSA.ES bus from Lisbon Gare Oriente to Sevile and then a TRANSPORTES GENERALES COMES or ALSA.ES bus from Seville to Tarifa / Algeciras.

For timetables and more info see:

Cubsur's excellent site at:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

(Alsa.es timetable at bottom of the page)

and Alsa.es timetables at:

http://www.alsa.es

and:

http://www.tgcomes.es/horarios_33_english.htm

You might also find this post on my blog interesting:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/search?q=Tarifa

Sintra and Cascais in one day

You can do both places in one day.

You can take train from Lisbon Entrecampos Stations to Sintra.
(40 minutes)

Then spend a few hours there.

Then get the Scotturb bus to Cascais via Cabo da Rocha.
See this post on my blog from more info in the Sintra to Cascais Bus Service.

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/sintra-to-cascais-by-bus.html

Have a late afternoon meal there and wander back to Lisbon Cais de Sodre Station on the Linha da Cascais train. (45 minutes)

Note: Trains are cheap.

Algarve Late-Night Arrivals Supermarkets

The best bet is the Jumbo hypermarket in Faro.

See this link:

http://www.jumbo.pt/Frontoffice/ContentPages/Store.aspx?StoreId=033

They are open till 24:00.

To get there from the airport do the following:

Get on the main road out of the airport and follow the signs for Faro.

After about 3kms you will see an off-ramp to your right for Faro.

Take it!

Watch for the traffic merging from the left as you enter the N125 dual carriageway.

Continue about 1,5km and you will see on your left the shopping center "Forum Algarve".

You will then immediately come to a roundabout.

Go 270º around the roundabout and take the entrance to the shopping centre.

Park above or underground.

You will find Jumbo there.

On leaving the shopping centre follow the signs for Lisbon which will eventually bring you to the Via de Infante Motorway and follow the signs for Albufeira, Portimão, Lagos.

Lisbon to Madrid

There are several airlines operating the route Lisbon - Madrid.

- Iberia - www.iberia.com

- TAP/Air Portugal - www.flytap.com

- Vueling - www.vueling.com

There are lots of daily flights between the two centres.

Lisbon Cacilhas Almada Cristo Rei (Christ the King)

The name of the suburb you want to get to is Almada.

There are ferries from Cais de Sodre to Cacilhas/Almada with services every 15 minutes or so.

Then you would need to catch the 101 Cacilhas to Cristo Rei bus from Cacilhas to the Statue.

There are bus services every 20 minutes.

Timetable here:

http://www.tsuldotejo.pt/visualiza_carreira.php?cod_carreira=384

The name of the statue in Portuguese is Cristo Rei. (Christ the King)

Travel from Lisbon to Seville

There is no train service directly between Seville and Lisbon.

As from 1st December 2007, Vueling will operate Seville - Lisbon on Monday's, Wednesday's and Saturdays.

TAP Air Portugal have announced that they will also operate the route from Autumn but have not confirmed dates yet.

At present the only direct way by public transport is by bus.

There are two companies currently operating the route.

Alsa and apparently Casal. (The latter does not have a website and I haven't been recently to Seville nor Gare Oriente to be able to confirm.)

You can find the Alsa timetables here on cubsur's excellent site:
Go to the bottom of the page.

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Also see the following blog articles page:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/search?q=seville+lisbon

Vacations in the Med - Too hot?

An interesting article in the London Oberver today!

See:

Over-heated Med stokes tourism fears


It will be interesting to see what this implies for Portugal and particularly the Algarve.

Travel from Carvoeiro to Seville (Cadiz)

Whoooa There!

Seville and Cadiz are totally two different cities 130kms apart.

To get to Carvoeiro from Cadiz you have to pass through Seville. The distance is approximately 370km each way.

With the usual traffic congestion in the area of Seville and stops you could be looking at 4 hours 30 minutes each way.

It also depends when you are travelling. If in June, July, August, early September, temperatures in the area of Seville can top 40ºC during the day. It would therefore be politic to have a car with air conditioning or start very early circa 5:00 a.m. to beat the heat.

As cruise ships only tend to layover for a day or two it might be better to meet in somewhere like Seville which is 2:30 min to 3 hr. from Carvoeiro.

Portugal, Spain, Morocco

Some observations:

1) Seville & Cordoba in August will be hot hot hot! (Possibly +40ºC between 11:00 and 17.00) You will be hard pushed to do much therefore in two days. If time is a constraint I would recommend scratching Cordoba and spend two days in Seville.

2) Day 12 Tarifa - Lagos is going to be a very long day, you will have to route via Seville as previously explained:

Timetable for coaches between Tarifa and Seville can be found here:

http://www.tgcomes.es/horarios_33_english.htm

The bus at 08:00 arriving Seville at 11:00.

There is a DAMAS/EVA bus to Lagos at 13:30 arriving 16:40.

See Cubsur's excellent site here

Note that this routing by coach is really the only feasible way of travelling by public transport from Gib/Tarifa/Cadiz to the Algarve/Lagos.

There is no train connection between Seville and Portugal/Algarve and the only flights between Mainland Spain and Portugal is the Ryanair Faro to Madrid Flight 4 days a week.

There are no direct flights between Faro International Airport (Airport for the Algarve - situated 70kms from Lagos) and Faro. TAP/Air Portugal offer a service but it routes via Lisbon and is a pain owing to frequent delays and cancellations.

A much better way to visit Porto would be to catch the early train from Lagos which connects with the Alfa-Pendular Express from Faro and arrives Porto at 12:44.

If you go to my blog at:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

scroll down on the right till you get to the panel entitled:

>>Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

You will find a link entitled:

Porto - Lisbon - Porto Train Timetable.

Click and you will download a timetable for the Alfa Pendular Service including the service from Faro.

You can also find in the same panel a link to the Algarve line train timetable.

A final thought now I have come to think about it!

Spanish airline ClickAir operates Barcelona - Tangier although costs of flights in August are expensive. Early August - + Euro 300. Mid August onwards circa Euro 170.00 & taxes. However, if you are already flying to Seville.....

So you could fly Barcelona - Tangier direct spend your few days in souks seeing the carpet salesmen and then take the ferry to Tarifa.

Then take the bus to Seville.

Spend a couple of days in Seville and maybe Cordoba and then go Lagos.

A further option is the above flights are to expensive is to fly Barcelona to the airport at Jerez la Frontera near Cadiz and then get a bus teh last 130km from there to Tarifa. Spanish low costs SPANAIR, CLICKAIR, S.A. and VUELING AIRLINES appear to operate this route according to AENA the Spanish airports authority.

Then ferry over to Morocco and then do Seville on your way back.

Easyjet - New Routes - Lisbon and Madeira

Easyjet have announced today that they will launch the following services from end of October 2007.

London Stansted – Funchal (Madeira)
Bristol – Funchal (Madeira)
Bristol – Lisbon
London Gatwick – Lisbon

Seville to Porto via the Algarve Coast and Lisbon

There is so much history on the route you have outlined that books have been written about it.

From prehistoric times when men erected dolmens and worshipped the setting sun near Sagres, through the eviction of the Moors, the Portuguese Voyages of discovery to the Napoleonic Wars when Wellington erected the Lines of Torre Vedras north of Sintra your route will take you through such a wealth of History that it is impossible to recommend one and not the other.

However, here is a list you could start with:

On entering Portugal at Ayamonte from Spain:

Castro Marim - Medieval Castle
Tavira - Founded by the Romans and now traditional Portuguese coastal town.
Faro - See the old town
Lagos - Where I live! See the following link for a synopsis I have just written on this area

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/must-see-do-around-lagos.html

Going North:

Alcacer da Sal - Battle and Fortress
Setubal - Setubal and Palmela Castle
Lisbon - at a minimum

- Castelo São Jorge
Find the Chapitu Restaurant near by and sit on its terrace having lunch and enjoy the view over the Tejo

see:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/lisbon-restaurants-with-views.html
(This is on my blog. If you don't get the full url just go to my blog - details below and search for chapitu.)


- Belem Monument
- Jeronimos Monastery
- Palacio - Queluz

Sintra - Pena Castle

Heading North -

Obidos - Old walled city
Batalha - Cathedral
Alcobaça - Monastery
Fatima - Catholic Sanctuary
Coimbra - one of the oldest Universities in Europe
Nazare - Old traditional Fishing Town
Porto - 2nd City of Portugal, Potr Wine, Douro Valley

Have a browse of my blog where you may find other posts of note:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

If you are genuinely interested in Portuguese History get hold of the following book:

Portugal - A Companion History by Dr. José Hermano Saraiva. (In English) - ISBN 1 85754 211 8

This a short but very good overview of Portuguese History by a gentleman, although now in his late 80's continues to present weekly history programmes on Portuguese T.V. on some esoteric aspect of Portuguese History.

Enjoy youself

Must see/ do around Lagos ??

Well you only have a week and you haven't really stipulated your likes and dislikes but here goes:

- Lagos has been a port for over 2000 years. the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors et al have been here.

The town, together with Lisbon, Sines and Sagres, was also the point of departure for the Portuguese Voyages of Discovery in the 15th Century, which opened up the European Sea Routes round the Cape of Good Hope to India which subsequently led to the Portuguese, Dutch, & British Empires.

Just imagine a bunch of guys in a wooden vessel not much bigger than a small trawler wandering off around Africa with no compass...no GPS ...nothing.

Lagos still retains its Portuguese character:

So in Lagos, culture:

- Have a walk round the old City walls
- Check out the rebuild of the type ship (caravel) than was used by the Portugues explorers.
- The Slave Market (One of the first in Europe)
- The Santa Maria Church
- The Museum
- The Fortaleza (small fort) at the end of the Avenida. Forts of these kind were built by the Portuguese all over the place. Even seen one in Mombasa,.Kenya.

Further afield, culture:

- Tavira - 75 minutes away by car. Old traditional Portuguese fishing port in the Eastern Algarve.

- Sagres - See the Fort built by Prince Henry the Navigator to supervise the voyage of exploration. 5km away visit Cape St. Vincent the most South Westerly point of Europe. While visiting this area check out the spectacular cliff lined coast.

Other -

Monchique - Dirty Great Big Mountain that dominates the skyline behind Lagos and the surrounding area. It is hot, take run up to Monchique village with is traditional. Also run further up to Foia at the top for views of the area. 5 kms out of Monchique on the Portimão Road you will find Caldas da Monchique where there is a Mineral Spa and restaurant.

Water Parks et al:

- Slide and Splash at Lagoa

http://www.slidesplash.com/

- Zoomarine at Guia

http://www.zoomarine.com/

The West Coast:

West of Lagos explore the beaches at Salema, Praia da Ingrina and run up the West Coast from Vila de Bispo to Praia de Amado, Carrapateira, Bordeira and Aljezur.

From Vila de Bispo also take the little road behind the Market down to the beach at Castelejo. Car will be required.

Right if that doesn't tire you out for starters - a good meal at one of our excellent sea food restaurants here in Lagos will! :))

Lagosmar Lagos

1) The actual name of this hostelry is "Residencial Lagosmar".

2) Location - it is very central being situated right in the middle of the old town behind the market.

3) I have not been in there recently but from memory there is no bar in the Hotel.

However, you are ideally situated to tak advantage of several bars in the vicinity such as Eddie's, The Hideaway, Vin Divino and a several others.

4) Reviews - There are two recent reviews on Tripadvisor here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g189117-d530444-Reviews-Residencial_Lagosmar-Lagos_Algarve.html

Tavira, Salema, Evora to the North Itinerary

Wow, You want to do a lot!

I would suggest the following:

Day 1 - Faro Airport to Tavira - 1 hour - Motorway all the way.
Day 2 - Tavira to Salema - 1:45 hours - if you take your time. Motorway to Lagos and then EN 125 motoroad. In the evening nip over to Sagres (20 kms) to see the sunset at Cape St. Vincent. - The most south westerly point of Europe.
Day 3 - Salema - Vila de Bispo - Aljezur - Odeceixe - Odemira - Grandola/Alcacer/Evora or Beja/Evora - Good 3 metre roads all the way - Time 4 to 5 hours with stops and dawdling.

Evora to Lisbon via Vasco da Gama bridge will take about 2 - 2,5 hrs. I suggest you try to drop the car off at Gare de Oriente if the agency has an office there as this will avoid having to drive into Lisbon or the Airport. You can then get train via Entrecampos to Sintra or Metro into Lisbon.

Note the main Rossio train station for Sintra is currently closed for tunnel works. Trains leave from Entrecampos.

The rest of the trip sounds fine although you need to check public transport links to Spain from Aveiro. (You may get better connections from Porto.)

Meia Praia - Lagos - New Developments

The Portuguese Council of Ministers has rubbered stamped the development plan for the Meia Praia area of Lagos.

On Saturday, the Economy Minister announced that two private investors will be proceeding with developments in the area:

Palmares Resort - based around the Golf Course (I presume) with a cost of 300 million Euros and creating 450 jobs

and

a new Vila Galé Group Hotel

Vila Galé Lagos - (Hope is is as good as the one in Tavira.)
30 million Euros.

These are both projected to be 5 stars Hotels for opening over the next few years.

This probably means the traffic along here is going to get a lot worse.

Article (in Portuguese) can be seen here:

http://www.regiao-sul.pt/noticias/noticia.php?id=75239

Sol Lagos Studios

Was at these apartments last week on a mission! :)))

The building works have finished, the portakabins gone, the car park next door has reverted to its original function - a car park!

Pool area is great and secluded. Studios and apartments were clean although a bit dated. Note no TV (Local nor Cable) The Manager is great.

It is ideally situated for downtown Lagos through the pedestrian tunnel and Praias Dona Ana and Batata are about 10 minutes away by foot.

Hopefully weather will be between 20 and 28ºC. Nights may be windy/cool.

Check out thses comments as well:


http://www.holidaywatchdog.com/15759-Lagos-Sol_Lagos_Studios-Holiday-Review.html

Accommodation in Carrapateira

Depends when you are coming!

If it is over summer you may have some real difficulty as most places are already booked.

There is limited accomodation in the Carrapateira area as building is strictly controlled.

You may find it better to stay near Sagres or Lagos and drive as it is only 20/30 minutes.

Try these sites:

- http://www.solpraiaferias.com/
(Sagres/Carrapateira & Car Hire).
- http://www.algarve-web.com/rosamontes/default.asp
(Near Burgau - Nice location)
- http://www.docemaralgarve.com/aurora.htm
(Near Burgau)

Sintra to Cascais by Bus

There is a regular coastal bus service (Nº 403) between Sintra Station and Cascais Station operated by Scotturb. Unfortunately, the Scotturb website is currently undergoing a revamp (July 2007). In any event the site is not exactly user friendly.

For those who are interested here is the Summer 2007 timetable:











To view better do a right click over the image and then view in new
window.

Note: "Partidas" means departures:

Albufeira, Lagos-where to stay for short visit

Have a look at these two places just outside Lagos near Luz and Burgau.

http://rosamontes.funyes.com/index.html
Situated in countryside only 1500 metres from the beach and ideal for exploring the Lagos/Sagres area. Actually in a rural location set back from roads

http://www.docemaralgarve.com/aurora.htm
Not far from the above but not in the countryside.

Rent car in Spain and drop off in Portugal?

You will only be able to do this with one of the big companies like AVIS, Hertz and Europcar and I suspect that the one way fee will be substantial as the rental will be between countries. I had some kiwis last week who rented a car in Valencia and dropped it of in Huelva and then took the bus to Faro as they could not get a good deal on cross border one way rentals.

Many others have asked the same! :))))

The bus is your best answer. Then pick up a car in Faro.

Faro to Malaga

The Summer 2007 Alsa.es timetable shows a travel time of 5:30 minutes between Faro and Malaga via Seville on the night service leaving Faro at 02:00 a.m and arriving at 08:45 (Spanish Time). You would need to get a train in the evening to Faro which would take about 105 mins.

So you are looking at +- 8 hrs travel and a few hours sitting around.

There ain't any other quicker way I'm afraid as even by air via Madrid it would take this long.

See the following sites for more info:

thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm
www.alsa.es
http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Hypermarket or large supermarket on route to Tavira?

When you leave Faro airport (I assume you will have a hire car!) follow the signs in the direction of Faro.

After about 3kms you will come to an off ramp to your right marked Faro. Take it!

Follow the road into Faro (about 3 kms) till you come to a round about. Go 270º around the roundabout and follow the signs for parking.

You have arrived at the Forum Algarve shopping center.

In there, you will find an enormous Jumbo hypermarket.

To get back to Tavira, exit the Center and go back the the way you came, continue along the N125 following the signs for Lisboa until you come to the A22 motorway.

Take the off-ramp for Espana, Olhão and Vila Real and carry on for about 40kms. You will see the Tavira off-ramp.

Residential Cruise Liner - The World - Portimão

Just been over to Portimão this morning and the largest cruise vessel I have ever seen alongside was in port.

Turned out to be the "The World" registered in Nassau, with some pretty impressive stats:

Tonnage: 43188
Passengers: 699
Crew: 343
Length: 196m
Draught: 6,7m

It is the largest vessel I have ever seen enter the Arade.

There is more about the vessel here

http://www.aboardtheworld.com/

If a 40 000 tonne plus can get into Portimão now, this bodes well for the future of cruise traffic for Algarve tourism.

Flights from Canada to Faro

The following airlines operate between Canada and Portugal

SATA

http://www.sata.pt/index.php?engl=1

Toronto - Lisbon


Air Transat have operated charters on the route.

See:

http://www.fornos-travel.com/flights/air_transat_flights.htm

Barcelona to Lagos

Barcelona to Lagos!

Ryanair operated this route for two months and dropped it as they had not done their market research!

They still operate 4 days a week from Madrid to Faro. So I would recommend the following routing:

Barcelona - Madrid - Spanair/Vueling
Madrid - Faro - Ryanair

A better and probably more secure routing would be with vueling.com on their low cost flights from Barcelona to Lisbon. These are twice daily and current prices are in the order of Euro 70.00 to Euro 90.00

From Lisbon Airport, you get a taxi to Gare de Oriente, (Euro 5.00) and from there either a train or coach to Lagos.

See this article on my blog and apply its content in reverse:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/lagos-to-lisbon-by-bus-train.html

Is Lagos the best place. . .

I hate to have to say this as I live in Lagos in the South, but now that I see that you want culture, history and off the beaten track, I am going to recommend that you should be heading north of Lisbon after Evora.

Much of the history of Portugal lies there in places like Setubal, Obidos, Batalha, Coimbra, Porto, Nazare, Lamego, Guimarães, Bragança etc.

The Counts of Lusitania originated in the North. The South, particularly the Algarve, were frontier areas. Indeed, the Kings of Portugal up to Manuel in 1907 were known as the "Rei do Portugal e o Algarve" - "The King of Portugal and the Algarve". The Algarve always has been a "colony".

However, if you are coming South, I recommend the following route :

- Lisbon
- Evora
- Alcacer do Sal (See the castle)
- Setubal (See Setubal and Palmela Castle)
- Cross the Sado Estuary on the ferry at Setubal to the Troia Peninsula and make your way South to Santiago da Cacem and Sines.
- From Sines wander down to Vila Nova Milfontes.
- From the latter head in the direction of Aljezur diverting a little to have coffee in the town of Odemira - Agricultural centre nestled in a lovely little valley.
- From there head to Odeceixe -
- Then Aljezur
- From Aljezur head to Lagos and base yourselves here.
- From Lagos explore

- Sagres & Cape St. Vincent (35 kms.)
- Tavira - (100kms)
- Monchique - (20 kms)

Seville to Guarda

This will not be an easy one!

The problem is that there are no, repeat no, direct train services between Seville and Portugal. Also most train services from Seville head in the direction of Madrid.

Also even routing via Madrid, will not help as the only International train passing through Guarda is the Lisbon - Paris train and this bypasses Madrid. Even bus services via Madrid will be longer than via Lisbon.

Given that you only have 4 days the fastest way for you to do it would be by hire car. You could run up from Seville to Badajoz cross the Portuguese border and head North via Portalegre & Castelo Branco. This will take about 6 hours. If taking this option you should you should plan to start at about 04:00 a.m. in the morning to beat the heat in inland Spain - this can be + 40ºC mid-morning in August . It is the fastest and cheapest option.

The only other option is bus/rail.

There is a bus that leaves Seville Plaza das Armas Bus Station every night at 23:59 arriving Lisbon Gare de Oriente at 06:15 the next morning.

There is an intercity train leaving Lisbon Gare de Oriente at 8h39 arriving Guarda at 12h40.

To return on the Monday you would have to catch the 06:39 Sud Express from Guarda (I suspect you will have to book in advance as it is a peak period).

This arrives Lisbon Gare de Oriente at 10:54

There is then a bus that leaves Lisbon Gare de Oriente at 11.30 arriving Seville Plaza das Armas at 19:45.

Obviously if the train is delayed you wuold miss the bus and the next one is only in the evening.

The bus services are operated by www.alsa.es and the train by www.cp.pt

You may find some other useful nuggets on my blog at:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Hope this helps

Lisbon to Porto

You have three reasonable cost options:

1) Train

There are about 16 services per day from Lisbon Gare Oriente Station to Porto this summer.

Because the Potruguese Railways site is a bit complicated, I have made a
link on my blog where you can download the timetable:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right until you come to:

Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

Click on:

Porto - Lisbon - Porto Train Timetable

Transit Time will be about 2hrs30mins to 3 hrs.

2) RENEX Coach Services

Also departs Lisbon Gare Oriente

Again go to my blog where you can download the timetable:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right until you come to:

Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

Click on:

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Porto timetable

Transit Time will be about 3hrs30minss.

3) Rede-Expressos

Coach Services from Sete Rios Coach Station. (Jardim Zoologico)

Web-site:

www.rede-expressos.pt
(Note: Site only works with IE5.5 above. )

Internet access or wi fi in the Caldas area

Portugal Telecom (PT WIFI) has hotspots installed in Caldas da Rainha at the Post Office and McDonalds. Cost varies between Euro 5 for an hour and Euro 50 per week.

As far as I know there is no city wide wifi available at present. Check with you ISP in Ireland to see if they have a reciprocal arrangement with and ISP's in Portugal.

As far as I am aware, at present, the Portuguese ISP's offering mobile wifi (Vodafone, TMN, Kangaru and ZAPP) only offer such services on a 12 month contract sign-up on on a reciprocal roaming basis.

If you have a phone line where you are in Caldas you could subscribe to the SAPO ADSL Free option which essentially is pay on demand.

Details here:

http://adsl.sapo.pt/free.html

Hope this helps.

Faro to Gibraltar

Essentially there are two ways:

1) Bus from Faro to La Línea de la Concepción via Seville

2) Drive.

Rail does not really work as there are no rail links from the Algarve to Andalucia.

For bus transport see the following post on my blog
(Note: La Linea is not much further than Jerez)

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/lagos-to-seville-jerez.html

and this page on cubsur's excellent site:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

T

Traveling from Hotel PESTANA DELFIM (Alvor) to Lisbon..

The Renex buses from Lagos to Lisbon Gare Oriente go through Alvor.

To make the 11.25 at Lisbon airport you would need to get the 00:45 service arriving Lisbon Oriente at 05:00 as the early morning service does not go through Alvor. Cost will be +- Euros 15:00

You could get the early morning train but you would need to get a taxi to Portimão-

For Renex & rail timetables go to my blog at:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right till you come to the panel entitled:

Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

Click on

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

to download the RENEX Timetable

and

↓ Portuguese Railways - Summer 2007 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

to download the Railway Timetable.

From Gare Oriente take a taxi to Lisbon Airport - 5 minutes.

Lisbon to Evora and Fatima

Lisbon to Evora.

You have two options:

1) Rail - 3 x Trains from Lisbon Gare Station Oriente to Evora

08:10
14:10
18:10

(Summer Timetable - Transit time +-2 hours)

Return

06:44
13:44
18:44

2) Buses from Sete Rios Coach Station to Evora. (Metro Jardim Zoologico)

Timetable here -

http://www.rede-expressos.pt/

Warning site only works with the Evil Empire's IE5.5 plus browser!!!!

As regards Fatima I understand that rede-expressos operate buses also on this route. There are no trains nearby.

If you are going to do both places, hiring a car may be more sensible.

Lisbon to Evora is about 90 minutes. (Note: Toll Motorway)

Lisbon to Evora about 90 minutes (Note: Toll Motorway)

Hope this helps

Lagos Bike Hire

There are places that hire bikes.

Me thinks that there is a place (sorry, can't remember the name just now!) in the Vasco da Gama centre just behind the Adega da Marina.

Only one problem though - Motel Ancora is about 2,5 kms from town and up a steep hill. Which ever route you take you are going to probably be walking for a good third of the ride. The same applies to getting to and from the nearest beaches - Porto da Mos and Dona Ana.

Remember it will also be hot.

If you don't have a car, there is there is the Nº 14 bus that passes five times a day.

The number 15 also passes nearby but at a distance of about 400m.

Note the are no bus services in the evening.

Nearby to Motel Ancora next to the Torraltinha Tennis Court in the basement you can find Sidecar Motobike Hire. Luis rents out scooters and that may be off use.

Algarve - Things to do

Firstly, I should point out that the Algarve is a region about 160 kms East to West and 45 kms North to South. It is therefore not a big region and with the A22 Motorway that runs from the Spanish Border to Lagos, nowhere in the region is less than 90 minutes drive away. (traffic permitting.)

You therefore have a chance to explore the whole region. Note, however, that you will be here at the height of summer - it will be very hot and it will be packed.

I should warn you that Luz will be stuffed full - mainly with my compatriots!

Luz really has become an English/Irish Colony. There are several restaurants there. The webite is not an official website and many restaurants don't see the need for web-marketing.

The beach will also be stuffed full.

For alternative beaches I recommend exploring the following:

From Luz take the exit for Espiche, turn left onto the EN125 and continue about 20kms until you get to the cross roads for Parque da Floresta and Salema. Turn left and left again and take the road down to Salema. It is a pretty little village with a nice beach - but again will be probably busy at that time of year.

Alternatively, carry on another 8kms. to the village of Raposeira. Turn left at the lights and follow the signs for Praia da Ingrina or Zavial. It is a loop road and you can chooses which beach you prefer. In my opinion, Zavial will be the better. Again it will be pretty busy.

However, if you continue past Raposeira and turn ledt at Vila de Bispo towards Aljezur you will come after about 20kms to Carrapateira where again there is a great beach.

This part of the Algarve is full of hidden beaches but I don't have time here to list all of them.

Be aware that Portugal is a gourmet's delight. Great food here - provided you go to the local restaurants!

In Lagos try the Dom Sebastião on Rua 25 Abril and Antonio's at Praia Porto de Mos overlooking the beach. Also, for cheap and cheerful, try Até Qu'enfim behind the Intermarche Supermarket

If you are going to explore or get to hot one day, take a trip up Monchique, the small mountain that dominates the landscape behind Lagos. Great views and Scenery. Stop at the local Spa at Caldas de Monchique for coffee, 5 kms below the village of Monchique.

Carvoeiro is pretty but then so is Salema. Silves will be hot and while maybe worth a visit there is only really the Moorish Castle to see. (Only the structure and walls not a furnished castle.)

I would suggest that Lagos itself would be off more interest as it retains much of its Portuguese Character including city walls, and old buildings. Visit the museum, the old Portuguese Fort, the churches etc.

Have a look at this Wikipedia article for more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_%28Portugal%29

As regards the "Feira de N. Sra. Da Glória", don't expect anything special - These are not Mexican or Spanish Feast Days. There may be a street parade, a couple of bands and some good food but generally in Portugal these Feiras do pale in comparisom with those of the other Ibero-Cousins.

For the kids look at Dolphn Safaris from Lagos Marina.

Also have a look at Zoomarine about 30kms from Lagos.

See:

http://www.zoomarine.com/

Note that if you are feeling flush you can arrange for about US$250 per person to swim with the Dolphins.

There are also some great waterparks here:

Try:

http://www.slidesplash.com/

for starters.

If things really get boring, take a trip one day to the Eastern Algarve (About 60 to 90 minutes drive.)

Visit:

Estoi - Roman Ruins
Tavira - delightful coastal roman town - retaining its portuguese character.
Castro Marim - Castle

and then nip over the frontier (no border controls) and have Tapas in the town centre of Ayamonte, Spain.

For further info have a look at my blog where you may find interesting nuggets:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Just out of interest who are you hiring your car from????

Lagos Shops -

Big Supermarkets - 08:30 / 09:00 thru 20:30 / 22:00
6 days per week. Sunday half day.

Small shops

09:00 to 13:00
15:00 to 19:00

Saturday half day. Closed Sundays.

I think that pretty much addresses most of your questions.

Have a great trip.

Lisbon to Madrid

Hi!

According to Michelin, Lisbon Madrid is about 628 km.

Allow 6 to 7.5 hours dependent on traffic conditions and stops.

Note that part of the distance is on toll roads.

En route three towns to visit are:

Evora - Portugal (20km of the motorway - Roman Ruins and UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Badajoz - Site of Napoleonic War Siege/Battle
Toledo - Spanish Hilltop town famed for silver working

among others.

Check out the listings on Wikipedia.

Hope this helps

A few Albufeira Questions

Actually there is a station that serves Albufeira albeit 6kms from town in Ferreiras and has six express services daily to Lisbon.

Have a look at the following recent posting on my blog:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/travelling-from-albufeira-to-lisbon.html

Also go to the main page:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

On the right scroll down till you get to the panel:

>>>Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

>> below that you will find a link

↓ Portuguese Railways - Summer 2007 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

Click on it and you will be able to download the latest rail timetable in pdf format from CP - Portuguese Railways.

As regards renting a car if it is a villa and it is not smack bang centre you will be a bit frustrated.

A car will also allow you to explore the Algarve a bit - its not big! Read some of the articles on my blog. They may help. Additionally, if you don't find Albufeira to your liking you can with a car always easily visit other parts of the Algarve

If you do decide to hire a car - be careful. There are many cheap offers out there and then when you go to pick up the car .........say not more!

I usually recommend Luzcar who can provide you a car on arrival at Faro AIrport. Their prices appear a bit higher than others but there are all inclusive. I have know them for years.

You can find them here:

http://www.solpraiaferias.com/carhirealgarve/index.php?option=en

Note the recent warning that has gone out on certain forums about AirAuto. They have been withholding deposits and refunds to several clients recently and there appears to be a problem between them and clients.

The following links may also be useful:

http://www.solpraiaferias.com/index.php?content=cheg_en

and

http://www.algarvebus.info

Transport et distance entre Séville (Espagne) et Lagos (Portugal)?

(One more in French)

Il n'y a pas des avions ni trains entre Seville et l'Algarve.

La distance entre Seville et Lagos est +- 250km.

Il y a des services reguliers autobus entre Seville Plaza das Armas et les principales villes de l'Algarve.

Les meilleurs endroits pour le surf se rencontre sur la litoral ouest - 30 kms ouest du Lagos.

Regardez les sites suivantes (la majoritié malheureusement en Anglais), pour plus d'info,:

http://www.solpraiaferias.com/index_fr.php?content=cheg_fr

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/...asevilla-summer.html

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Pour les info surf:

Regardez

http://www.surf-experience.com/

Bon Voyage et Bon surfing!

Lagos to Lisbon by bus / train

Absolutely no problem!

There are regular coach services operated by:

Eva Transportes

Services several times daily departing Lagos Bus Station arriving Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Stations for Metro Jardim Zoologico

RENEX

Services several times daily departing Lagos from their booking office next to the the Repsol Service Station on the Avenida in Lagos arriving Lisbon Orient Bus Station for Metro Gare Oriente

Timetable download in pdf format available from my blog - see below. (Click on RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable)

Train

Summer Schedule 2007 - 6 services daily.

For timetable go to my blog at

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Scroll down on the right till you come to the section:

>> Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

Click on

↓ Portuguese Railways - Summer 2007 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

You will then get a pdf download of the relevant timetable direct from Portuguese Railways. I provide this link as the CP site can be a bit confusing.

Prices will vary between €16 and €30 each way depending on mode of transport and class (on trains.)

It is eminently possible to do a day round trip ...but very tiring. Better to ovrenight in Lisbon.

For more info see these sites:

Cubsur's site at

www.algarvebus.info

and

http://www.solpraiaferias.com/index.php?content=cheg_en

Have safe trip

Lignes des transports en commun à Lisbonne

(One more in French - Continue down for English articles)

Vous pouvez rencontrer les infos pour le metro ici:

http://www.metrolisboa.pt/

et plan de reseau ici

http://www.metrolisboa.pt/Default.aspx?tabid=79
.
Pour les lignes de bus:

http://www.carris.pt/

et plan de reseau ici

http://www.carris.pt/downloads/planta_lx.jpg

Pour l'IBIS Jose Malhoa il n'y a pas un ligne de transport direct. C'est moins cher et plus facile prendre un taxi. Ils ne sont pas cher à Lisbonne, certainement pas plus que Euro 8.

Faro to Marbella

Unfortunately, Ryanair have recently reduced their daily service to Madrid from Faro to 4 days a week and so the option of flying low cost Faro - Madrid and then low - cost Madrid - Malaga with Spanair is not an option on 14th July 2007.

Your best bet will be therefore to get the 08:20 DAMAS/EVA bus from Faro to Seville arriving Seville Plaza das Armas at 13:00.

Form my research there appears to be a departure from Seville at 16:00 for Marbella. Transit time 3:30 mins - so arriving Marbella 19:30. The operator is AUTOBÚS DE LOS AMARILLOS. They do not appear to have a website.

My reference to this is here:

www.ctsa-portillo.com/ima/pdf/marbella.pdf

This appears to be the best option.
.

Où aller le soir à Lagos?

(Sorry, This one's in French - a response to a question on routard.com. Scroll down for other articles in English.)

Salut,

C'est vrai qu'il existe ici en Lagos une population permanente et transitaire d'une certaine taille de nos rosbifs ! ::)))

Cependant, la ville maintient toujours son caractère portugais fort et dans l'été les visiteurs portugais et espagnols dépassez les anglophones que en grande parte ont exilér vers Praia da Luz et les autres petites colonies anglophone partout l'Algarve.

Heureusement il y a pas tellement des bars et restaurants anglais en Lagos. Les portugais ont une grande tradition culinaire et même que nous avons ici maintenant des restaurants chines et indienne, il restent toujour une grande choix des bars et restaurants national.

Pour les bars je vous conseille visiter:

- Zanzibar . une petit bar dans la rue 25 abril. Cette rue est pleine des bares mais Zanzibar et la Taberna de Lagos a côté sont peut-être les plus cosmopolitaines.

- Dans la Marina du Lagoa vous pouvez rencontrer Amuras Bar que aussi a une amibiance osmopolitaine.

Pour les restaurants je vous conseille visiter:

- Antonios - Situé a la plage Porto Mos - Restauration traditionnel.
- Venetzia et Dom Sebastião - Aussi situent dans la rue 25 abril! Mais attention! Possibilité d'être plein des mes compatriots.
- Até Qu'enfim - Pour quelque chose different, plus simples et presque une restaurante d'ouvrier. Situé derrière Intermarche. On mange bien ici. Fermé les jeudis.

N'inquiétez pas! Lagos et plein des petits caf'és, bars et restaurants.

Bon sejour et Bon Voyage!